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NEW HAMPSHIRE'S 

FIVE PROVINCIAL CONGRESSES 

July 21, 1774— January 5, 1776 

A PAPER 

READ IN PART AT A MEETING OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, JANUARY 11, 1905 

^ With an Appendix 

Containing Brief Notices of Persons Mentioned Therein 



BY . ,r\ 

JOSEPH B?' WALKER 



^ Forsan et hcec olim mevtinisse j'uvabit." — JEneid, I. 



CONCORD, N. H. 
RUMFORD PRINTING COMPANY 

1905 



H4-X^^- 



Contents. 



Introduction ...... 

The Provincial Assembly 

The Covenant of 1774 .... 

The First Provincial Congress . 

Some Events during the Last Half of 1774 

The Second Provincial Congress 

The Third Provincial Congress 

New Hampshire's Last Provincial Assembly 

Some Occurrences in the Summer of 1775 

The Fourth Provincial Congress 

The Fifth Provincial Congress . 

Appendix ...... 



3 

4 

9 
II 
12 

14 
16 
20 
24 
28 
40 
48 



Introduction. 



There is a period of our New Hampshire history, 
embracing about a year and a half, to which no 
great attention has hitherto been given. This, to 
the close student, is of crucial interest, inasmuch as 
it includes the time when our mother country com- 
pelled her American colonies to abandon all peace- 
able efforts for a redress of their grievances and 
submit their cause to the arbitrament of arms. It 
extends from the 8th day of June, 1774, when Gov- 
ernor Wentworth dissolved the Provincial Assembly, 
to the 5th day of January, 1776, when the members 
of the Fifth Provincial Congress, acting for their 
constituents, voted to "take up civil government"^ 
and established the first constitutional state govern- 
ment instituted in America. To a consideration of 
some of the more important events of this period, 
which covers that of our Five Provincial Congresses, 
your attention is now invited. 

When King George III forced the Boston Port 

Bill through the British Parliament, in April, 1774, 

to the disgust of some of England's wisest statesmen, 

he did one of the worst things possible for his own 

cause and one of the best for that of his American 

Colonies. This bill took effect on the ist day of the 

following June, and soon produced three very patent 

results : 

I. An 

' N. H. State Papers, vol. 8, p. 2. 



4 New Hampshire's Five Provincial Congresses. 

1. An immediate and universal sympathy through- 
out all the colonies, from New Hampshire to Georgia, 
for blockaded Boston, whose business was substan- 
tially destroyed, and many of whose people were 
reduced to suffering for the means of life — a sym- 
pathy which soon defeated the purpose sought, by 
bountiful contributions of food sent from all sections 
of the country. 

2. The welding into unity of the thirteen American 
Colonies. These were now brought to realize, as 
they had never done before, that theirs was a com- 
mon interest and a common danger, and that New 
York, Philadelphia and Charleston were equally 
exposed with Boston to the unwise assaults of an 
unwise king. 

3. The appointment of colonial Committees of 
Correspondence, which brought the several colonies 
into better acquaintance with one another, and the 
establishment, three months later, of the Continental 
Congress. Of this work, New Hampshire did her 
appointed share. 

THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY. 

Its Provincial Assembly had convened on the 7th 
dav of April, the House consisting of 34 

Convening j s: i r i 

of the members, who represented 34 of the 155 

Assembly, towus and placcs of the province. The 

April 7, 1774. . , , . . , 1 . , 

time was regarded as critical, and anxiety 
was felt by all members of the government and by 
the people as well. Governor Wentworth, a fair- 
minded, 



The Provincial Assembly, 5 

minded, honest man, seeing clearly the situation so 
far as it had developed, strove earnestly to maintain 
his loyalty to the Crown and to pacify the people of 
his government. He knew not that the crisis which 
he sought to prevent was an irrepressible one. No 
one, perhaps, at the time realized this. 

In his inaugural address to the Council and Assem- 
bly, he remarked, in part : 

Gentlemen of the Council and Assembly, 

The experience of Prosperity, resulting to the Province from 
Extract from foi'mer Harmony & Dilligence, is the strongest recom- 
Governor's mendation for the continuance of those Principles. 
Speech, The public good is our General Duty, and will be 

Aprils, 1774. j^^g^ £qj. j^jg Majesty's service, Both houses of As- 
sembly may be sure of my cheerful concurrence therein. 1 

The Assembly remained in session but two days, 
and, for reasons which do not appear, 

Reassembling '- ^ 

of Assembly, werc prorogucd by the governor on the 
May 10, 1774- c)th to the loth of the following May. On 
that day, the members again came together, with a 
knowledge, obtained in the interim, of the passage 
in April, of the Boston Port Bill which, as before 
remarked, was to take effect on the ist of the follow- 
ing June. 

The business of the House went on as usual with- 
out apparent friction until the 13th, when a break, 
for some unexplained reason, occurs in the journal 
until the 20th. On the 28th, it 

Voted 

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 361. 



6 The Provincial Assembly. 

Voted that the Hon^i John Wentworth, Esq.i Speaker of this 
House, Samuel Cutts Esq^=' John Giddinge Esq%8 
mentofa Clement March Esq',^ Josiah Bartlett Esq',* Mr. 

Committee Henry Prescott ^ & John Pickering Esq' ^ be a Com'** 
of Corre- Qf this House to correspond, as occasion may require, 

spon ence, ^j^j^ ^^^ Comt«e» that are or may be appointed by the 
several Houses of Representatives in our Sister Col- 
onies, and to exhibit to this House an account of such their Pro- 
ceedings when Required.* 

The j'ournal of the House also says that, imme- 
diately after the passage of this vote, 

The House, taking into Consider" the many & great Difficulties 
that have arisen & still subsist, between our Parent country and 
the Colonies on this Continent, & in particular, the present dis- 
tressing Circumstances of the town of Boston, came to the follow- 
ing Resolution, viz. 

Resolved and voted that, the Speaker of this House be 

directed to answer such letters, from time to time, 

.. , ,^ as he may receive from any of the Houses of our 

answer letters sister Colonies Relative to the afores<i difficulties, 

from other & to assure them that, this House is ready to join 

Colomes, jj^ ^jj salutary measures that may be adopted by them 

May 28, 1774. ,.^ .. . . ,^., 

at this Important crisis, for saving the Rights and 

Privileges of the Americans & Promoting Harmony with the 

Parent State. » 

This action was unpleasing to the governor and 
he did all he could to prevent it, and such was his 
influence that he nearly succeeded. Evidently em- 
barrassed, he kept the Assembly in session by four 

short 

» Appendix, p. 71. ^ Ibid, p. 50. s /bid, p. 53. Ibid, p. 58. 

ilbid,^. ^y. 'IbidfP.G^. ^ Ibid, p. 61. 

8 N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 366. 

'N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, pp. 366-367. 



The Pi-ovincial Assembly. 7 

short adjournments until the 8th of the following 
June, and then dissolved it, as appears by the follow- 
ing message : 

Mr Speaker and Gentleme7i of the Assembly — 

As I look upon the measures entered upon by the House of 

Assembly to be inconsistent with his Majesty's ser- 

{'a" " 'bl' ^^^^ ^'^'^ ^^^ good of this Government, it is my Duty, 

Junes, 1774'. ^s far as in me lies, to prevent any Detriment that 

might arise from such Proceedings, I do, therefore, 

hereby Dissolve the General Assembly of this Province and it is 

Dissolved accordingly.^ 

I. Wentworth. 
Province of New Hamp"' 
Council Chamber 8th June 1774 

An account of this action of the governor and the 
motives prompting it, are given in greater detail in 
a letter, dated the same day, and addressed to the 
Earl of Dartmouth. In this he says in part : 

On Friday, 27th of May, it was moved to appoint committees 
of correspondence, and after a warm debate, carried by a majority 
of two only ; The next morning it was reconsidered, and carried 
by a majority of one only, and passed as by the inclosures No. 2 
and 3. Immediately after this the supply bill was passed and 
sent up to the Council, being withheld, as I imagine, for time to 
eflfect the other measure. I directly adjourned the Assembly, and 
kept them under short adjournments till this day, in hopes to 
obtain a suspension of these votes ; but finding there were two 
letters in town for the speaker, which some of these who were 
most active, said, were to appoint a Congress of the Colonies, 
I considered it to be improper to permit their proceedings, and 
therefore immediately put an end to the committees (who have not 

as 

* N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 369. 



8 The Provincial Assembly. 

as yet wrote or acted) and to the Assembly, by a dissolution in a 
message (No. 4, herewith transmitted) cautiously expressed, in 
such general terms as to prevent any misrepresentations.^ 

The members of the House remained in their hall 
after its dissolution and were about pro- 

Reassembling _ _ ^ 

of members ceeding to busincss as a convention, when 
of House, |.j^g governor appeared. He was accom- 
panied by the sheriff, who, at his com- 
mand, ordered them to disperse. They, therefore, 
left the Provincial chamber and reassembled in a 
public hall near by.^ Thus again together, these 
ex-members of the House ordered letters sent to 
all the towns in the ^rovince^ recommending them 
to send deputies to represent them in a convention, 
to be holden at Exeter, on the 21st day of July 
for the purpose of electing delegates to represent 
New Hampshire in a Continental Congress, to con- 
vene at Philadelphia on the 5th of the following 
September, and that each forward by its deputy, its 
individual proportion of £200, to meet the expenses 
of such delegates. '* They also recommended a day 
of fasting and prayer to be observed by the several 
congregations, on account of the gloomy appearance 
of public affairs."^ These recommendations having 
been made, the convention was dissolved. 

By 

• N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 369. 

^ It was the contention of the Colonies that, all communities taxed for the 
government's support were entitled to representation in its councils. This was 
in strong contrast with the existing law in New Hampshire, which restricted it 
to only 36 of its 155 towns. 

' Belknap's Hist. New. Harap., Farmer's ed., p. 351. 



The Covenant of lyj/f.. 9 

By a dissolution of the Assembly, whose action he 
had failed to control, the governor thought 

Committee _ => " 

ofCorre- that he had dissolved the Committee of 
spondence, Correspondence, but the committee thought 
otherwise, and acted in accordance with 
their own belief. They established a correspondence 
with the other colonies and thereby kept themselves 
informed of what was transpiring in each. The 
knowledge thus obtained was of great value to the 
friends of liberty at home, enabling them, as it did, 
to wisely regulate their own actions. Indeed, it 
would be hard to overestimate the importance of this 
intercolonial correspondence in awakening mutual 
sympathy, and in conclusively demonstrating that a 
crucial period had arrived, and that a struggle had 
commenced, in the result of which all the American 
people had a common interest. 

The committee also prepared a mutual covenant, 
a copy of which was sent for execution to 
Covenant the Several towns of the state. ^ It was the 
of 1774- last of a long series of peaceful efforts 

made by the New Hampshire people for a redress of 
their grievances. Those who signed it solemnly 
agreed. 

That, from henceforth, we will suspend all comercial Intercourse 
with the said Island of Great Britain, until the Parliament shall 
cease to enact Laws imposing Taxes upon the Colonies, without 
their consent or until the pretended right of Taxing is dropped. 
And ****** we do in like manner, solemnly covenant 

that, 

1 Appendix, p. T},. 



lO The Covenant of lyy^. 

that, we will not buy, purchase or consume or suffer any Person, 
by, for or under us, to purchase, nor will we use in our Families 
in any Manner whatever, any Goods, Wares or Merchandise which 
shall arrive in America from Great Britain aforesaid, from and after 
the last day of August next ensuing, (except only such Articles as 
shall be judged absolutely necessary by the Majority of the Signers 
hereof) — and as much as in us lies, to prevent our being interrupted 
and defeated in this only peaceable Measure entered into for the 
Recovery and Preservation of our Rights and the rights of our 
Brethren in our Sister Colonies, We agree to break off all Trade 
and Commerce with all Persons who preferring their private 
Interest to the Salvation of their now almost perishing Country, 
who shall still continue to import Goods from Great Britain, or 
shall purchase of those who import after the said last Day of 
August, until the aforesaid pretended Right of Taxing the Colonies 
shall be given up or dropped. 

Such were some of the terms of this important 
document. To what extent the copies sent to the 
several towns were signed does not appear. The 
one sent to Concord has lately come to light, and 
bears the autographs of most or all of its male cit- 
izens and of Hannah Osgood,^ the patriotic mistress 
of " Mother Osgood's tavern," a place of popular 
resort of the " Sons of Liberty." In some, it was 
not signed, their people preferring to wait for the 
more comprehensive "Association," adopted later by 
the Continental Congress, and executed by its mem- 
bers in behalf of their respective colonies. 

^ Appendix, p. 60. 



The First Provincial Congress. it 

THE FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

In response to the recommendations of this meet- 
ing; of the ex-members of the House of 
to the Con- Assembly, deputies to the number of 
tinentai eighty-five assembled in convention at 

ongress. gxetcr, on the 21st day of July, 1774, 
and chose John Wentworth of Somersworth chair- 
man. Maj. John Sullivan and Col. Nathaniel Fol- 
som were elected delegates to the Continental Con- 
gress, to assemble at Philadelphia on the 5th day of 
September, and John Giddinge was made treasurer 
and instructed to receive and pay over to them the 
contributions made by the several towns to defray 
their expenses. A committee was also appointed, 
consisting of Hon. John Wentworth of Somersworth, 
Hon. Meshech Weare,^ Col. Josiah Bartlett, Col. 
Christopher Toppan'-^ and John Pickering, Jr., "to 
give general Instructions to Delegates " and fill any 
vacancy in the delegation, if such should occur. The 
deputies then 

Voted, unanimously. That the Deputies recommend it to their 
respective Towns to take into Consideration the dis- 
Rehef of the tj-gssed unhappy Condition of the Town of Boston, 
g°°' ° and liberally to contribute towards the Relief of the 

Poor of that Town, according to the noble and laud- 
able Example of their Sister Colonies. 

Having passed this vote, the convention dissolved. 
Of whom it was composed there is but little knowl- 
edge 

^Appendix, p. 70. ^Ibid, p. 66. »N. H. State Papers, vol. 7, pp. 407-408. 



12 Events during the Last Half of 1774- 

edge to be had, inasmuch as the roll of its members, 
if any was ever made, has been lost.^ It seems to 
have been in session but a single day ; but it did a 
timely and very important work and was the first 
popular political body which ever deliberated and 
acted in New Hampshire free of royal espionage. 
It fairly deserves the name since assigned to it, of 
our " First Provincial Congress." 

Most of the events just mentioned occurred in the 
summer of 1774. Later in the year others greatly 
excited the people of New Hampshire. 

The carpenters of Boston refused to build barracks 
^ J. for the British soldiers sent to hold the 

Sending 

carpenters people in subjcction. Thereupon, General 
to Boston. Gage applied for men to Governor Went- 
worth, who secretly complied with his request. This 
action of the governor soon become known, and 
caused much popular dissatisfaction. 

The landing at Portsmouth on the 25th of June of 

twenty-seven chests of tea, and of thirty 

more on the 8th of October, also greatly 

increased popular discontent, which was allayed only 

by its reshipment, in both instances, to Halifax. 

On 

» It appears from its record and other sources that the following gentlemen 
were delegates from their respective towns to this Congress: John Wentworth, 
Somersworth; Meshech Weare, Hampton Falls; Josiah Bartlett, Kingston; 
Christopher Toppan, Hampton; John Webster and Robert Wilson, Chester; 
Jonathan Lovewell, Dunstable; Jonathan Moulton, Josiah Moulton and Josiah 
Moulton, 3d, Hampton; Rev. Timothy Walker, Concord; Paul Dudley Sar- 
gent, Amherst; John Giddinge, Theophilus Oilman, Nathaniel Folsom, John 
Phillips and Samuel Oilman, Exeter; Samuel Webster, Temple; and John Pick- 
ering, Jr., Portsmouth. 

For a fuller list of the members of the First and Second Provincial Congresses, 
see New Hampshire manual for the Oeneral Court, 1897, pp. 19-25. 



Events during the Last Half of lyj^. 13 

On the 13th of December a copy of an order of the 

King in Council, forbidding the export of 

Fort William gunpowder and military stores to America, 

and Mary. & r- j ' 

came by express to Portsmouth. As soon 
as known, the purport of this order greatly increased 
the existing excitement, and resulted in a gathering 
the next day of an indiscriminate company, which 
went to Fort William and Mary, and after capturing 
the guard in possession, seized and carried away an 
hundred barrels of gunpowder. ^ On the day follow- 
ing, another raid was made upon the defenceless 
fort, and all the small arms found there, with fifteen 
of the lighter cannon, were also borne away. 

It is unnecessary to inquire who composed these 
two companies. It will suffice to say that Maj. John 
Sullivan and Capt. John Langdon^ were conspicuous 
participants in these bold enterprises, and that the 
work accomplished received the hearty approval of 
the patriots of the Province. For it the}'" later 
received formal thanks.^ 

After a few days had elapsed, the Scarboro frigate 
^ .,. , , and the Canseau sloop arrived at Ports- 

Bntish troops ^ 

landed in mouth with scvcral companies of soldiers, 
Portsmouth, yvhicli took possession of the unoccupied 

Dec, 1774. 

fort and of the heavy cannon which had 
not been removed.* While their presence may not 
have been agreeable to the people of the Provincial 
capital, it w^as doubtless welcomed by the governor, 

who, 

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 420. ' Appendix, p. 57. 

3 N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 47S. * Belknap's Hist. New Hanip , p. 353. 



14 The Second Provincial Congress. 

who, up to this time, had had no reliable military 
support. 

Thus in a gloom of popular discontent and anxiety 
the year of 1774 passed away, and gave place to 
the more eventful one of 1775. The long-cherished 
hope of settling our grievances with the mother 
country by peaceable means grew fainter day by 
day, but it was to be the act of our enemies, and not 
ours, to destroy it utterly. 

THE SECOND PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

A second Provincial Congress, consisting of 144 
members, assembled at Exeter on the 25th of January, 
^775' The journal of its proceedings, as given in 
the N. H. Provincial Papers, is quite brief, and con- 
tains no list of its members or of the towns repre- 
sented in it. It is a plausible supposition that it was 
in session but a single day, and that one of the chief 
purposes of its assembling was to elect delegates to 
the Second Continental Congress, to convene at 
Philadelphia on the loth of the ensuing May. 

John Wentworth of Somersworth was elected presi- 
dent. 

A vote was unanimously passed expressing confi- 
dence in the late Continental Congress and approval 
of its proceedings. 

Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John Langdon were 
^ , , elected delegates to the next Continental 

Delegates ° 

to Second Congress, and a vote was passed to raise 

Continental 2^0 pounds to defray their expenses, which 

action may have been significant of the 

Congress' 



The Second Provincial Congress. 15 

Congress' approval of their participation in the recent 
capture of the military stores at the fort. 

A committee was appointed consisting of the Hon. 
John Wentworth, Col. Nathaniel Folsom,i 

Committee '' , 

ofcorre- Hon. Mesliech Weare, Col. Josiah Bart- 
spondence. ^^^^^ Qq\^ Christopher Toppan, Ebenezer 
Thompson, Esq., and William Whipple, Esq., to 
summon another Congress whenever, in their opin- 
ion, it might be necessary. This committee, with 
the addition of Samuel Cutts and John Pickering, 
Esqs., was made a Committee of Correspondence. 

The closing act of this Congress was the issue of 
an address "To the Inhabitants of the Province of 
New Hampshire," recommending the discountenanc- 
ing " all trespasses and injuries against individuals 
and their property and all disorders of every kind " ; 
due obedience to the lawful magistrates and the sup- 
port of the laws: a strict adherence "to the *Asso- 
ciation' of the late Continental Congress" and the 
punishment of the violators thereof; the enforcement 
of the laws against hawkers, peddlars and petty chap- 
men ; abstinence from the use of East India tea ; the 
support of the Committees of Correspondence and 
Inspection ; approval of the advice of the Continen- 
tal Congress in cases of seizure of persons to be 
taken from the country for trial elsewhere, for 
alleged offences within it ; the encouragement of 
American manufactures and the practice of econ- 
omy ; compliance by the officers of New Hampshire 

regiments 

'Appendix, p. 52. 



1 6 The Third Provincial Congress. 

regiments with the military laws ; the avoidance of 
unnecessary law suits ; a continuance of contribu- 
tions for the relief of Boston sufferers, and a looking 
to God for deliverance from their political and other 
distresses. 

So far as its journal shows, these, stated in brief, 
were the proceedings of New Hampshire's Second 
Provincial Congress. The record, possibly, may 
not be entire, as it contains no vote of adjourn- 
ment. 

As already remarked, no list of the members com- 
Members posing this Cougrcss has been preserved.^ 
of Second Greatly to be regretted as this fact is, there 
Congress. |g g^ant liopc that a full roll will ever be 
secured. 

THE THIRD PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

The long-cherished hope of securing from the 
mother country a redress of grievances by 

Contests at •' , . , , , • , 

Lexington peaceablc means, which had contmued on 

and Concord, nearly four months into the succeeding 

p",i77d- year, was suddenly dispelled on the 19th 

of 

J From its record and various other sources it appears that the Second New 
Hampshire Provincial Congress was composed in part of the following dele- 
gates: John Wentworth, Somersworth ; Moses Baker, Candia ; Jonathan Moul- 
ton, Christopher Toppan, Josiah Moulton, Josiah Moulton, 3d, Jeremiah San- 
born, Anthony Emery, Amos Coffin, William Moulton and John Fogg, Hamp- 
ton ; John Hale, Hollis ; Rev. Timothy Walker, Concord ; Henry Gerrish, 
Boscawen ; Nathaniel Folsom, Theophilus Gilman, Nicholas Oilman, William 
Parker and John Giddinge, Exeter; Joseph Cilley and Benjamin Butler, Not- 
tingham; Daniel Moore and Thomas Marshall, Deerfield; David Hale, Rindge : 
Joseph Woodman, Sanbornton; N.Adams says Portsmouth sent "seven depu- 
ties," but omits their names (Annals, p. 250) ; Joseph Barrett, Mason ; Francis 
Blood, Temple, and Jacob Abbott, Wilton. 



The Third Provincial Congress. 17 

of April, by the butchery on Lexington Common 
and the attack upon the embattled farmers at Con- 
cord Bridge. 

This sudden assault was, doubtless, no great sur- 
prise to the patriots who best understood the colonial 
policy of George the Third. Ten years before, the 
Rev. Timothy Walker, ^ who had made three visits 
to London and there learned from reliable sources 
the determination of the home government, had said 
to Dr. Charles Chauncy of Boston that " nothing but 
the absolute submission of the colonies would satisfy 
Britain, and that, in the end, we must have a war with 
Old England and a league with France." 

By these unprovoked acts England announced her 
determination to support her claims by arms, and 
forced her American Colonies to accept the arbitra- 
ment of war. Henceforth the latter were compelled 
to reluctantly abandon all non-importation and non- 
consumption covenants, together with the Associa- 
tion adopted by the Continental Congress. Before 
another year had expired a covenant of a sterner 
character had been circulated and signed through- 
out the province. 2 The old mother, long loved and 
still loved, wrongly informed and badly led, had 
attempted compulsion by the sword, and was unwit- 
tingly doing all she could to estrange her American 
children and force them to independence and nation- 
ality. 

A report of these assaults was borne by swift 

expresses 

1 Appendix, p. 67. 2 Ibid, p. 75, 



1 8 The Thii'd Provincial Compress 



b • 



expresses to all parts of the country, and immedi- 
ately awakened a spirit of undaunted resistance. 
The nearest towns received it in a few hours, and 
it must have reached Exeter, fifty miles away, in 
six or less. Upon its receipt there, the Commit- 
tee of Correspondence, duly authorized so to do,^ 
immediately summoned a Third Congress of Depu- 
ties to meet in that town on the 21st; two days only 
after these assaults had been made, to take such 
action as this unexpected emergency made neces- 
sary. Upon assembling, sixty-eight, mostly from 
the nearest towns, were found to be present.^ These 
at once organized by the choice of John Wentworth 
of Somersworth, president, and Ebenezer Thomp- 
son,^ clerk. 

The news which led to the summoning of the 
Third Provincial Concjress had caused 

N. H. troops , =* 

hurry to Ncw Hampshire soldiers in large num- 
vicinityof bers to hurry to the vicinity of Boston. In 
a few days some 2,000 had there assem- 
bled, vv^ho could be of little use until properly organ- 
ized and officered. To render this force eff'ective, 
the Congress, upon coming together, at once 

Voted unanimously that Col. Nath^ Folsom Esq'' be desired 
immediately to take the chief command of the Troops who have 
gone or may go from this Government to assist our suffering Breth- 
ren in the Province of Massachusetts Bay who are now opposing 

the 

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 442. 

* For list of members of this Congress, see N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, pp. 

452-455- 

' Appendix, p. 65. 



The Thh'd Provincial Congress. 19 

the hostile violence of the Regular Troops there, and to order for 
the Troops that may be under his command from time to time all 
necessary supplies. ^ 

A committee also was chosen to consult the Pro- 
vincial Congress of Massachusetts as to "What 
Quota of men will be necessary for this Province to 
provide & such measures as may be tho't expedient 
at this critical juncture." 

Having finished these proceedings, it adjourned to 
the 25th. By this time the arrival of 41 other dele- 
gates had increased the whole number to 109, repre- 
senting 71 different towns. 

In the absence of President Wentworth, detained 
at home by sickness, Meshech Weare was elected 
president ^rc tern. 

A communication from the Provincial Congress of 
Massachusetts being laid before them, ask- 

Cooperation . . . , , ... 

with Massa- ^''^g coopcratiou With that provmce m its 
chusetts in resistance to British arms, a committee was 

Resisting . , ■, . . /-ttt r~\-i n 

British Power, appointed consisting of WysemanClaggett,2 
John Pickering, William Whipple,^ Samuel 
Hobart,'^ Matthew Thornton,^ Josiah Bartlett, Chris- 
topher Toppan and Ebenezer Thompson, to draft a 
reply thereto, pledging New Hampshire's aid and 
concurrence in whatever measures Massachusetts 
might institute. This was subsequently reported, 
adopted and sent the next day to the Congress of 
that province by Nathaniel Folsom, Josiah Bartlett, 

and 

* N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 454. 

'Appendix, p. 49. '/^iV^, p. 72. </^;rf, p. 55. B/^JzaT, p. 65. 



20 New Hampshire's Last Provincial Assembly. 

and Samuel Hobart. Action was also taken for pro- 
curing a necessary stock of firearms, ammunition and 
provisions, to be held in readiness for use in the 
several towns who were advised " to Engage as 
many men in each Town as they think fit ; to be 
properly Equipt & ready to march at a moment's 
warning on any Emergency."^ 

A few days later (May 2), the committee appointed 
to bear the communication before mentioned to the 
Massachusetts Congress, made report of their mis- 
sion, and thereupon, it was voted not to discourage 
the enlistment of New Hampshire men "in the 
Massachusetts service for the present Emergency." 

At this point, the journal of this Congress ends- 
It had been assembled in haste to meet 

Close of 

Third Provin- Uncertain emergencies. Having done all 
ciai Congress, ^^^^ ^j^g existing couditiou of the public 
welfare required, it seems to have adjourned 
and left to another already summoned such farther 
work as the future might have for it in store. ^ 



NEW HAMPSHIRE'S LAST PROVINCIAL 
ASSEMBLY. 

During the period embracing New Hampshire's 
first three Provincial Congresses there had been no 
General Assembly, the last one having been dis- 
solved by the governor on the 8th day of June, 1774, 
as already stated. Realizing that important matters 

were 

1 N. H. Prov, Papers, vol. 7, p. 462. « N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 466. 



New Hafnpskire's Last Provincial Assembly. 21 

were demanding legislative consideration, he sent 
precepts to the towns entitled to representation, to 
elect delegates to represent them in a new Assembly. 
He also sent precepts to the three new towns of 
Lyme, Orford and Plymouth which had been re- 
cently incorporated; the two first in 1761, and the 
last in 1763 ; presuming that they might elect mem- 
bers friendly to the royal cause. 

This partiality gave great offence, inasmuch as 
many older and more important towns were still left 
without representation. This attempt of the governor 
to increase his power in the House proved unfor- 
tunate for the cause which he was anxious to pro- 
mote ; inasmuch as, at this time, the colonies had all 
joined in the claim that taxation and representation 
were inseparable companions. It denied, too, the 
right of the House to regulate the conditions of 
admission to its membership ; an assertion of great 
imprudence, to be made when the demand for equal 
political privileges had become universal throughout 
the colonies. 

This new Assembly, which subsequently proved 
to be New Hampshire's last under royal rule, con- 
vened at Portsmouth on the 4th day of May, 1775. 
The House consisted of 37 members, who repre- 
sented 36 only of the 155 towns of the Province. 
Nineteen of these had been members of the last 
Assembly, and 11 of the Third Provincial Congress 
which had so recently been in session. 

John Wentworth, of Somersworth, was chosen 

speaker 



22 New Hampshire's Last Provincial Assembly. 

speaker and Ebenezer Thompson, clerk fro tern. 
In his address to the House, the governor remarked, 
in part : 

We cannot but view with inexpressible concern the alarming 
Pitch to which the unfortunate Dispute between Great 

Message Britain and her Colonies is daily advancing. A mat- 

01 the ^ J5 

Governor. *^^ °^ ^"^^ ^ momentuous nature, which fills every 
human mind with the deepest anxiety and affliction, 
and wherein this Province is unhappily involved, cannot, I pre- 
sume, fail of engaging your most serious attention. It is therefore 
my Duty, at such a critical & important moment, to call, in the 
most earnest & solemn manner, upon you, gentlemen, who are the 
only constitutional and legal Representatives of the People, to 
direct your Counsels to such measures as may secure their Peace 
and safety. 1 

This address having been read, the speaker, Dr. 
Giddinge, Mr. Claggett, Mr. Langdon and Colonel 
Bartlett were made a committee to report to the 
House "a Draft for an answer to His Excellency's 
speech." 2 

Another committee, consisting of Jacob Sheafe,^ 
Woodbury Langdon,'* John Giddinge, Josiah Moul- 
ton,Jr.,^and Caleb Hogdon,^ was also appointed to 
take into consideration " Sundry Petitions, complain- 
ing of several Persons from sundry new towns, which 
had not before sent members, being returned to sit 
as members in this House, in an illegal or unconsti- 
tutional manner." 

On 

* N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 372. « /3/rf, p. 373. 'Appendix, p. 63. 
*Ibid, p. 58. 6 Ibid, p. 60. « Ibid, p. 56. 



New Hampshire's Last Provincial Assembly. 23 

On the 6th, at the request of the House, the gov- 
First Adourn ^^^*^^ adjoumed the General Assembly to 
mentto the i2th of Juue. While, doubtless, he was 

June 12. aware that the object of this adjournment 
was to afford the members an opportunity of confer- 
ring with those of the Fourth Provincial Congress, to 
assemble at Exeter on the 17th, he thought it best to 
comply with their request. 

The House again came together on the 12th of 
June, agreeably to adjournment, and the next day 
the committee before appointed to consider and 
report what action, if any, should be taken in rela- 
tion to seating the representatives from the three 
new towns, made a report adverse thereto. This 
report was accepted and its recommendations were 
adopted. 

After answer had been made to the governor's 
Second Ad- op^ning speech and been by him received, 
journmentto he again adjourned the Assembly to the 
July II,, 775- nth day of July. 

At this date it again convened. Three days later, 
upon receiving from the governor a message recom- 
mending that the House "Rescind the Vote for 
Excluding the said three members from the House, 
that they may be entirely free to take their seats 
without interruption, according to the constant usage 
heretofore Practiced," a committee was appointed to 
prepare an answer thereto. 

On the afternoon of the same day, the committee 
made report, in part, that, "Upon the whole, this 

House 



24 New Hampshire's Last Provincial Assembly. 

House have Determined Unanimously (as they look 
upon it as their undoubted Right and Priviledge to 
Regulate themselves), not to Rescind their said 
Vote."i 

The House continued in session until the i8th, 
Third Ad- when the governor, who had removed with 
journment to his family to the fort, sent them a message 
Sept. 28, 1775. therefrom, and again adjourned the Assem- 
bly to the 28th of the following September. 

This proved to be the Assembly's last session, for 
Fourth Ad- ^^ governor shortly afterwards (Aug. 24), 
journment to leaving Ncw Hampshire, went to Boston, 
April 24, 1776. ^j^j never again set his foot upon the main 
land of the Province ; although, about the 28th of 
September, he came to the Isles of Shoals and thence 
sent to the Assembly a message adjourning it to the 
24th day of April, 1776. But his communication 
was not heeded. More than three months before 
that date, New Hampshire had adopted a constitution 
and become an independent, sovereign state. 

Several occurrences during this summer had greatly 
Occurrences ^^citcd the miuds of the inhabitants of the 
in Summer Provincial Capital. Men from the war ship 
of 1775- Scarhoro were sent on shore, and tore 

down a portion of the breastwork of Fort William 
and Mary ; whereupon, the next day, a company 
of patriots went down and brought away eight 
cannon. 

Two ships, laden with provisions, of which Ports- 
mouth 

* Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 384. 



Occurrences in the Summer of lyj^. 25 

mouth was then short, were seized in the harbor and 
taken to Boston for the use of the royal troops sta- 
tioned there, notwithstanding the remonstrances of 
the governor. 

And Capt. John Fenton,^ the rejected representa- 
tive of the new town of Plymouth, added 
Fenton° " ^^el to the flame of excitement by giving a 
loose rein to his anger and assailing with 
violent vituperation the action of the Assembly. 
Fearing for his personal safety, he fled to the house 
of the governor. Here a demand for his surrender 
was made. When this was refused, a cannon was 
placed in front of the door. This act caused the 
captain to give himself up, and he was sent to Exeter 
and there placed in confinement for a time as a 
Tory. 

Shortly after this event, the governor, considering 
himself insulted and his personal safety insecure, 
removed with his family to Fort William and Mary, 
where he afterwards continued in residence until he 
left the Province. 

An impartial student of the history of this period 
, will find it hard to criticise with severity 

Character of 

Governor the pubHc acts of Govcmor Wentworth, or 
wentworth. ^^ abate the high esteem in which he may 
have previously held him. The irrepressible con- 
flict then in progress was not of his making. Tired 
of royal rule and awakened to a sense of their 
natural rights, the people were transferring the gov- 
ernment 

'Appendix, p. 51. 



26 Public Affairs in the Simimer of lyy^. 

ernment of the American Colonies from the clenched 
hands of an unwilling king to their own. 

As a representative of the latter, honour and hon- 
esty both compelled him to be faithful to his trust. 
Broad minded, possessed of great intelligence and 
elevated instincts, a fine-grained man, his high char- 
acter must command respect. That love for his 
native land and for his fellow-citizens arrayed 
against him should sadden and embarrass him was 
inevitable. That he should disregard the obligations 
of his official oath was to him impossible. It is by 
no means certain that, had he been free of political 
entanglements, he might not have been found in the 
ranks of his country's deliverers. 

It may be well, just here, to pause for a moment 
Pubii Aff r ^"^ consider the condition of public aff'airs 
in the Sum- during the summer of 1775. The popula- 
mer of 1775. ^^^^ q£ ^^ American Colonies amounted to 
about three million, and that of New Hampshire to 
about eighty-two thousand, sparsely scattered over its 
surface in 155 towns. Only 36 of these were allowed 
representation in the General Assembly, the king 
claiming the right to accord that privilege to such as 
he saw fit and in the same manner to withhold it. To 
most of them it was never granted until the people 
took the government into their own hands and con- 
ferred the right of proportional representation upon all. 
General Gage had commenced hostilities at Lexing- 
ton, and all hopes of a peaceable settlement of differ- 
ences with the crown had passed. The Continental 

Congress, 



Public Affairs in the Summer of lyy^. 27 

Congress, which was fast compacting our 13 differ- 
ent colonies into a solid nationality, had just finished 
its first session at Philadelphia. In it all had enjoyed 
representation. In it, a majority of the people con- 
fided as in a Moses, expecting it to lead them out of 
a bondage which they could no longer endure. 
While the presence of British regiments annoyed, 
they failed to intimidate the people but nerved them 
rather to a sterner resistance. 

The Fourth New Hampshire Provincial Congress 
had convened in May, so that both it and the Assem- 
bly were in session at the same time ; the first at 
Exeter and the latter at Portsmouth. Thirteen of the 
Assembly members were also members of this Con- 
gress,^ Indeed, Judge Potter has asserted in his 
" Life of Governor Wentworth," that the course of 
the Assembly was guided more or less by the Con- 
gress, in which the royal cause was accorded but 
slight if any favor. ^ The governor, possessed of no 
military and little political support, was powerless. 
That he should have been utterly discouraged, even 
to the abdication of his office, is by no means strange. 
He might, had he so chosen, have remained longer 
at his post, but doing so would have been useless, 
for civil rule in New Hampshire had passed from the 
crown to the people. 

* These were Josiah Moulton, of Hampton; Meshech Weare, of Hampton 
Falls ; Nathaniel Folsom, of Exeter ; Josiah Bartlett, of Kingston ; Richard 
Downing, of Newington ; Stephen Boardman, of Stratham ; Clement March, of 
Greenland ; John Hale, of Hollis ; James Knowles, of Rochester ; Paul D. Sar- 
gent, of Amherst ; Ebenezer Thompson, of Durham ; Samuel Ashley, of Win- 
chester (Appendix, p. 46) ; and Israel Morey, of Orford. 

» Farmer's Mass. Monthly Visitor, vol. 13, p. 36. 



28 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

THE FOURTH PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

The Fourth Provincial Congress convened at Exe- 
ter on the 17th day of May, 1775, and assumed 
Provincial government. It consisted of 133 deputies, 
sent as representatives from loi of the 155 towns, 
parishes and places of the Province. The three 
previous Congresses had each been held for specific 
purposes, and upon the accomplishment of these, had 
been dissolved, after sessions of a very few days. 
The members of this Congress had been elected to 
establish a provisional government and for a term 
of six months.^ 

It contained some of the foremost men of New 
Hampshire, and from the moment of its assembling, 
and indeed before, it was evident that there was 
much for it to do. To it the people turned for direc- 
tion. The royal government was moribund and the 
Province must not be left, at a time like this, to fall 
into confusion and inactivity for the want of guid- 
ance. 

War had come, and New Hampshire already had 
some 2,000 soldiers in the vicinity of Bos- 
near BoTtor **"*"' hurricd there by reports of assaults of 
British forces upon the people of Lexington 
and Concord. These were without organization and 
in need of officers, arms, supplies, and enough more 
men to raise their number to New Hampshire's quota 
of the New England troops. 

There 

1 For a list of the members of this Congress, see N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, 
pp. 46S-470. 



The Fourth Provincial Congress. 29 

There were, too, small bodies of Tories scattered 
through different sections of the Province, who were 
strongly attached to royal rule and hostile to the 
cause of liberty. There was need of organized 
means of watching their machinations and defeating 
their purposes. 

In short, civil government must be maintained at 
home and our contributions to the cause of American 
liberty be promptly made. We can see, as we look 
back, that these 133 plain men had assumed a great 
responsibility, and were expected to blaze into an 
unknown future, which their eyes could not pene- 
trate, a trail of very important action. To do this 
required patriotism, faith and grim resolution. These 
they possessed in large measure and used without 
stint. How they met successive emergencies their 
journal but briefly tells, for those who make history 
rarely have time to record it. 

The first work of the Fourth New Hampshire Pro- 
vincial Congress was its organization for 

Organization i i t i r • i • r 

of the Fourth ^^ Orderly discharge 01 its duties, many of 
Provincial which Were embarassing and onerous, and 
Ma"^iT^i77c ^ °^ which were important. Matthew 
Thornton was chosen president, and Ebe- 
nezer Thompson, secretary. To regulate its action, 
a body of rules was adopted, eight in number and of 
great simplicity. On the third day of its session it 
appointed, as introductory to its work, two very 
important committees. The first was a Committee 
of Safety, consisting of Matthew Thornton, Josiah 

Bartlett, 



30 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

Bartlett, William Whipple, Nathaniel Folsom and 
Ebenezer Thompson. The second was a Committee 
of Supplies, consisting of Nicholas Oilman, ^ Samuel 
Cutts, Ichabod Rawlings,^ Timothy Walker, Jr.,^ 
John Giddinge, Thomas Sparhawk,* and John Hale.^ 

Two things were patent at its ver}-- opening : 
^^^ ist. That the principal points of activity- 

apparent would be Portsmouth, New Hampshire's 
facts. only seaport, and Exeter, the place of the 

meeting of this Congress and of its three predeces- 
sors. 

2d. That its members must devote a large portion 
of their time to the raising and support of such troops 
as might be required to defend New Hampshire's 
frontiers and furnish its quota of men to the Conti- 
nental Army, about to be organized at Cambridge. 

As suggested by these facts, on the second day of 
Post offices ^^^ session (May i8) a post office was 
established at Portsmouth, and, five days 
later, another at Exeter ; while, a few days later still, 
post riders were appointed, by whom constant com- 
munication was afterwards maintained between these 
towns and the army near Boston. 

It is one of the strange things in our Revolutionary 
_ history that our forefathers should have so 

Troops. •' 

long hoped that their differences with the 
mother country might be adjusted by peaceable 
means. In this loving trust they made no prepara- 
tion for the war which she had precipitated upon 

them. 

1 Appendix, p. 54. • Ibid, p. 63. « Ibid, p. 69. * Ibid, p. 64. e Ibid, p. 55. 



The Fourth Provincial Congress, 31 

them. But when this illusion was dispelled, on the 
19th of April, by direct attacks of British troops at 
Lexington and Concord, they realized the fruitless- 
ness of all pacific efforts, and accepted without hesi- 
tation the stern alternative. Disappointed, but not 
disheartened, they stood erect, tightened their belts 
and hastily prepared, as best they could, for the 
struggle they did not fear. As fast as the news of the 
assaults upon these two towns reached them, indi- 
viduals and small companies hastened from all sec- 
tions of the Province to the vicinity of Boston. They 
went with such arms as they had, and the number 
there assembled soon amounted, as before mentioned, 
to about 2,000. Here, without organization or sup- 
port, they called upon their Provincial Congress for 
officers and supplies, in order that they might aid in 
the investment of that devoted town, now held by the 
soldiers of George III, who had foolishly attempted 
more than he was able to accomplish, and had not 
yet learned the important fact. 

In view of this state of affairs, only three days 
after its assembling (May 24) this Con- 

Provincial ., . r • i i- 

duties gress passed a series 01 six resolutions, 

tersely expressed, which read, in part, as 
follows : 

I'' Resolved, that it is necessary to raise immediately Two 
Thousand Effective Men in this Province, Including officers and 
those of this Province already in the service. * * * 

2'iiy That every member pledge his Honour & Estate, in the 
name of his Constituents, to pay their proportion of maintaining 

and 



32 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

and paying the officers and soldiers of the above number while in 
their service ♦ * * 

^thiy That the Selectmen of the several Towns & Districts within 
this Colony be desired to furnish the soldiers, who shall enlist 
from their respective Towns and districts, with good & sufficient 
Blankets & render their ace** to the Committee of Supplies. 

6* That if it should appear that, the above number of men is 
not our full proportion with the other Govern's that this Colony 
will be ready to make a proper addition for that purpose (May 20). 

Also, on the same day, thanks were voted to the 

company of men who captured Fort Will- 
Thanks to , 1 TV /r 1 • T^ 1 

captors of ^^^"^^ ^^d Mary, the previous December, 
Fort William and secured the hundred barrels of gun- 
st'res^'^^ powder and considerable quantity of fire- 
arms so sorely needed at that time for patri- 
otic use; while three days later (May 23), Col. 
Nathaniel Folsom was made commander general 
"of the men that may be raised or are already raised 
in this Gover* for this season." 

All this and much more was accomplished by this 
Congress during the first six days of its session. 

In addition to the 2,000 soldiers just mentioned, 
all the male inhabitants of the Province between the 
ages of 16 and 50 were organized as a militia into 
companies and regiments and provided with the nec- 
essary officers. From these were drawn the follow- 
ing September four regiments of minute men, who 
were ordered to meet for drill every two weeks and 
hold themselves in constant readiness for instant 
service. 

In 



The Fourth Provincial Congress, 33 

In December, Col. Timothy BedeP also had under 
^^^ his command in Canada, guarding our 

Canada and northern frontier, 195 hardy soldiers, while 
in the North- ^^ ^j^g ^^^^ ^^^^ Q^^^ Joshua Wiugate^ 

ern Frontier. , ^ 

was protectmg our seacoast with a force 
of 1,264. 

In addition to these and our three regiments under 
Colonels Stark, Reed and Poor, intrenched at Winter 
Hill, at the call of General Washington, New Hamp- 
shire sent 31 companies of her militia, numbering 
1,895 men, to fill the breach in the American line in 
the rear of Boston, made by the withdrawal of the 
Connecticut troops who had been forming a part of 
that cordon. 

When one calls to mind the fact that the entire 
„ , ,. population of New Hampshire was at this 

Population r r r 

of New time but about eighty-two thousand, includ- 

Hampshire. -j^g womcn and children (82,200), and 
that she had at the end of this first year of the war, 
in Canada, on the seacoast and in the line near Bos- 
ton nearly five thousand men in arms,"^ or one in 
every sixteen of all its inhabitants, we get some idea 
of the intense devotion of our fathers to the cause of 
American liberty. 

The suggestion here occurs that the expense of sup- 

Finances porting thcsc 5 ,ooo troops was large, and 

the query arises. Whence came the means 

of meeting it? The wealth of New Hampshire was 

inconsiderable, consisting mainly of farm buildings, 

farms 

^ Appendix, p. 48. ^ Ibid, p. 72. 3 N. H. Rev. Rolls, vol. i, p. 209. 



34 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

farms and the stock thereon. Its merchants were few 
in number and their wealth was limited. There was 
hardly a capitalist in all the Province, and its first 
organized bank was seventeen years away (1792). 
Whence, then, came the means for buying arms, 
ammunition and war supplies for these 5,000 men? 

The Congress journal very naively reveals the 
secret. One of the early officers, appointed soon 
after it convened, was a treasurer and receiver- 
general, in the person of Col. Nicholas Oilman of 
Exeter. It is a fact gratifying to every loyal Ameri- 
can heart that his house and office are still standing, 
in good preservation, in the old Provincial capital and 
have passed to the ownership of the New Hampshire 
chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati, who will be 
sure to care for and preserve them. 

Recognizing the necessity of ready money, this 
Congress appointed a committee quite early in its 
session to devise a plan of obtaining it. This, in 
due time, recommended an issue, upon the credit of 
the Province, of " paper notes," euphemistically so 
called, which recommendation was at once adopted. 
Any question as to the right of the Congress to do 
this was not raised, and the issue of notes of that 
description by the receiver-general, from time to time 
during this year, was authorized to the amount of 
£10,050 in addition to that raised by ordinary taxa- 
tion. 

On the 3d day of July, the former Provincial treas- 
urer under the royal government, now no more, paid 

into 



The Fourth Provincial Congress, 35 

into the new treasury of money remaining in his 
hands the sum of £1516-4-8.1 And in still farther 
addition to the amount first mentioned, the Continen- 
tal Congress, which had mustered into its own ser- 
vice a large portion of the New Hampshire troops, 
also paid into our treasury the sum of $40,000. But, 
just here, you must pardon the speaker if he says 
that it is with him by no means a matter of regret 
that the period of time placed at his disposal does 
not allow of any farther attempts to unravel the later 
intricacies of our Revolutionary financiering. 

But military supplies, a sine qua non in war, were, 
_ for a time, more difficult to obtain than the 

Supplies. money with which to pay for them. The 
Province could no longer look for powder 
and arms to the mother country, nor as yet to any 
other. It was without manufactories of its own for 
their production. The guns and gunpowder cap- 
tured the previous December at Fort William and 
Mary were useful as far as they went, but the former 
were few in number and the latter was of limited 
amount. The rust}'' old firelocks which, nearly 
twenty years before had done service in the French 
and Indian Wars, were brought from their innocuous 
desuetude and for want of better ones were made fit 
for use again by hasty repairs, when requisite, by 
the village blacksmiths and now and then furnished 
with bayonets forged in rude fashion upon their 
anvils. Blankets, too, for the soldiers were sought 

in 

» N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 546. 



36 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

in family closets, which could yield them in but 
limited quantities. 

The danger encountered by the Continental Army 
, from the scarcity of ammunition is tersely 
General cxpresscd by General Washington in a 

Washington, communication to the New Hampshire 
Committee of Safety bearing date of August 4, 1775. 
He remarks : 

Your public Capacity and the hope that you will be both able 
& willing to give us some assistance, has led me to make this 
application. The situation of the Army, as to Ammunition, is by 
no means what it ought to be. We have great Reason to suspect 
the Enemy very soon intend to bombard our Lines ; & our Stock 
of Powder is so small, as in a great Degree to make our heavy 
Artillery useless. , . . Every Hour in our present situation 
is critical.^ 

The scarcity of powder at this time and the diffi- 
culty of obtaining it is illustrated by an 
Scarcity of amusing story, apocryphal perhaps, but 
characteristic, which has come down to us 
in relation to valorous old General Putnam. As the 
story goes, having, with much labor and great satis- 
faction, planted a mortar on Letchmere Point, it sud- 
denly occurred to him that he had no ammunition 
with which to fire it; and, farther, that none could 
be obtained from headquarters. But being a man of 
faith and not easily discouraged, he immediately 
bestrode his cherished gun as he was wont to bestride 
his horse, and prayed for gunpowder. 

A 

» N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 571. 



The Fourth Provincial Congress. 37 

A careful reader of the journal of the Fourth 
Provincial Congress will not fail to get 
Fasting glimpscs of a religious vein in some of its 

and Prayer, proceedings. While believing in the gos- 
pel of future salvation, its members also believed in 
the gospel of civil liberty. Regarding the cause of 
American Independence as God's cause, they looked 
to Him for guidance and support. Both ministers 
and their congregations were friends of the patriot 
cause. In compliance with a general desire, on the 
3d day of June, Congress 

Voted, That Thursday fortnight be recommended as a day of 
Fasting and Prayer in this Colony. ^ 

A month later, it again 

Voted, That the Proclamation Issued by the Continental Con- 
gress of the 1 2th Inst, appointing 20th July to be kept as a day of 
Fasting & Prayer be printed & sent to all the Towns in this 
Colony. 

Among the blessings to be sought on that occasion 
were 

That virtue and true religion may revive and flourish throughout 
our land ; and that America may soon behold a gracious inter- 
position of Heaven for the redress of her many grievances, the 
restoration of her invaded rights, a reconciliation with the Parent 
State on terms constitutional and honorable to both ; and that 
her civil and religious privileges may be secured to the latest 
posterity. 

These 

* N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 503. 



38 The Fourth Provincial Congress. 

These subjects, suggested by the necessities of the 

period, while the most pressing, were not 

Other Mat- ^j^^ ^^^i Qj^gg ^^Jch engaged the attention 

ters Acted _ •' . 

on by the of this Cougrcss. Action was taken, from 
Fourth time to time, in relation to the appointment 

Congress. . 

by towns of local Committees of Safety ; 
the undue raising of the prices of commodities kept 
for sale ; moderation in treating ; representation ; 
excise on spirits ; duties of town officials ; removal 
of the inhabitants from the Isles of Shoals to the 
main land ; lenity to debtors ; rules of war : deserters 
from the army, and various other matters which the 
wants of the people and of the army suggested. 

Like its predecessors this Fourth Congress con- 
sisted of a single body of members and was 
hampered by very few parliamentary rules. 
Its enactments were, for the most part, effected by 
the acceptance of the reports of special committees, 
after careful consideration of the same. It had few 
standing committees, and its proceedings resembled 
those of a convention more than those of a congress 
of modern times. 

As the autumn came on, the people of New Hamp- 
shire realized that, by the virtual abdication of his 
office by Governor Wentworth, the royal authority 
had become defunct ; that the powers of the Pro- 
vincial Congress were undefined and that the Prov- 
ince was without a settled government. In this 
dilemma, the advice of the Continental Congress was 
sought. In answer, this body recommended "to 

the 



The Fourth Provincial Conger ess. 39 

the Provincial Convention of New Hampshire to call 
a full Representation of the people, and that the 
Representatives, if they think it necessary, establish 
such a form of government, as in their judgement 
will best produce the happiness of the people, and 
most effectually secure peace and good order in the 
province during the continuance of the present dis- 
pute between Great Britain and the Colonies."^ 

In accordance with this recommendation, on the 
14th day of November, this Provincial Congress 
ordered that "precepts signed by the President, be 
sent to the several towns, parishes and places, to 
elect & choose a Person to Represent them for one 
year, in a Congress to meet at Exeter, on the Twenty 
first day of December next, & there form a new 
government for this province, in accordance with the 
recommendation of the Continental Congress."^ 

This Fourth Provincial Congress remained in ses- 
^. , . sion until the loth of Tune, when it ad- 

Dissolution *' 

of Fourth journed to the 27th, transferring the exer- 
congress. j,jgg ^f j^g powers, during the interim, to 
the Committee of Safety, which was " impowered & 
directed on the recess of the Congress to take under 
their consideration all matters in which the welfare 
of this Province, in the security of their Rights, shall 
be concerned, except in the appointment of the Field 
officers, & take the utmost care that the Public sus- 
tain no damage."^ 

Twice afterwards was such action taken. Con- 
vening 

IN. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 642. "^Ibid, p. 659. ilbid, p. 511. 



40 The Fifth Provincial Congress. 

veiling for the last time on the 21st day of October, 
after a session of 16 days it dissolved itself on the 
15th day of November, and the proceedings of New- 
Hampshire's Fourth Provincial Congress passed into 
history. 

THE FIFTH PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

The Fifth and last New Hampshire Provincial 
Congress assembled at Exeter, on the 21st da}^ of 
December, i775' ^^ was composed of 76 delegates 
from 162 towns, parishes and places, and was organ- 
ized by the choice of Matthew Thornton, president ; 
Ebenezer Thompson, secretary ; and Noah Emery, 
assistant secretary. ^ Thirty-one, or nearly half of 
the delegates, had been members of the preceding 
Congress. Among them were some of the foremost 
men of the Province. ^ 

The proceedings of this Congress closely resem- 
bled those of its predecessors, and pertained largely 
to the raising, organization and maintenance of 
troops. On the 27th, however, a measure relating to 
the future government of the Province was intro- 
duced — the most important, perhaps, of any con- 
sidered in any of New Hampshire's five Congresses. 
Thereupon, after due consideration, it was "Voted 
„ that this Congress will take up Govern- 

Congress _ => ^ ^ 

Takes up ment in such mode & Form as this Con- 
Government. gj.ggg gj^^jj hereafter think fit," and a com- 
mittee 

1 Appendix, p. 51. 

* For a list of the members of this Congress, see N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, 
pp. 690, 693. 



The Fifth Provincial Congress, 41 

mittee of 15 was appointed " To draw up a Plan for 
the government of this Colony During the Present 
Contest with Great Britain."^ 

So far as the record shows, this committee made 
no report, but on the afternoon of the next day, 
another committee, consisting of Matthew Thornton, 
Meshech Weare, Ebenezer Thompson, Wyseman 
Claggett and Benjamin Giles,^ was appointed "To 
Frame and bring in a Dra't or Plan of a new Con- 
stitution for the rule and government of this Colony, 
and that they Enter upon that business 
immediately." At the same time, John Hurd,^ Nathi 
S. Prentice,^ Thomas Tash,-5 Timothy Walker,*^ Her- 
cules Mooney " and Jonathan Blanchard,^ were joined 
to this committee "to make a Dra't of an oath or 
obligation to be Entered into by the members of this 
house." 

On the 29th, however, it was ordered " That the 
consideration of the matter of an Oath or Obligation 
on the members of this Congress be put off to a 
Future Day," and that Timothy Walker and Israel 
Morey,^ be a Committee " To make Enquiry at the 
Gen^ Court at Watertown of the means of their qual- 
ification as a General Court, and of the mode of 
Qualification of their Civil Officers. "^*^ 

Passing over the next six days, during which, as 
„ preparatory to an anticipated event of great 

Finances. r r j r ^ o 

importance, Congress instituted means for 

sinking 

^ N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 703. Appendix, p. 53. 

8 Ibid, p. 57. * Ibid, p. 62. ^ Ibid, p. 64. e Ibid, p. 69. ' Ibid, p. 59. 

* Ibid, p, 49. 9 Appendix, p. 59. '" N. H. Prov. Papers, vol. 7, p. 704 



42 The Fifth Provincial Congress. 

sinking the Provincial debt, ordered the liberation, 
*' until further orders," of five Tories then in confine- 
ment, and called upon the late Provincial Treasurer 
to pay over to the Receiver General any money of 
the Province in his hands, we come to the birth of 
our State Government. 

The late General Marcy, of Portsmouth, is reported 
to have said that he w^as born in Portsmouth ; that 
he was always born there and that he was never born 
anywhere else. In like manner, we may say that 
our state government was born in Exeter, on the 5th 
day of January, 1776, antedating our national Dec- 
laration of Independence by about six months. 

Its birth was on this wise : Assembling on the 5th 
„ day of January, 1776, the Fifth Provincial 

Temporary '' '' j ^ i i ^ 

Constitution. Congress of New Hampshire 

Voted That This Congress Take up Civil Government for this 
Colony in manner and Form Following, viz. 

The "manner and form" adopted was tersely 
embodied in a brief instrument consisting of a pre- 
amble of 378 words, and 12 articles expressed in 
515; less in all by 107 words than 1,000. In the 
eighth volume of our printed State Papers it covers 
about two and a quarter pages. 

Its preamble declares its adoption by command of 
the people of New Hampshire, in compliance with 
the advice of the Continental Congress, on account 
of the grievous and oppressive acts of the British 
Parliament, and the abandonment of their govern- 
ment by Gov. John Wentworth and some of his 

Council, 



The Fifth Provincial Congress. 43 

Council, which act left the people without " Legis- 
lation and Executive Courts/' 

The twelve articles of government provided : 

ist. For a House of Representatives. 

2d. For a Council of twelve members. 

3d. For a Secretary of State. 

4th. That, all acts and resolves be passed by both 
Houses. 

5th. That, in the first instance, all public officers, 
except clerks of courts, should be appointed by the 
Council and House of Representatives. 

6th. That, all bills for raising money should origi- 
nate in the House of Representatives. 

7th. That, neither body should adjourn for a longer 
time than two da3^s without the consent of the other. 

8th. That, in case the controversy with Great Brit- 
ain should continue more than one year, the Council- 
lors should be afterwards elected by the people of 
their several districts. 

9th. That, in the occurrence of vacancies, general 
and field officers of the militia should be appointed 
by the Legislature, and all inferior officers by their 
respective companies. 

loth. That, civil and state officers, except Clerks 
of Courts, County Treasurers and recorders of deeds, 
should be appointed and their several terms of office 
determined by the Legislature. 

nth. That, the Treasurer and Recorder of Deeds 
of each county should be chosen by the people of 
such county. 

I2th. 



44 The Fi/lh Provincial Congress. 

I2th. That, precepts for the election of Councillors 
and Representatives, signed by the President of the 
Council and the Speaker of the House of Represent- 
atives, be annually issued on or before the first day of 
November, to the voters of the Colony, for the elec- 
tion of Councillors and Representatives.^ 

Hastily devised and drafted, this Constitution 
lacked several important provisions. It contained 
none for its ov^^n future amendments, should such at 
any time be deemed desirable, and it provided for 
no executive department of government. For rea- 
sons not mentioned, the exercise of the powers with 
which that department is usually endowed was left 
in the General Court when in session, to be trans- 
ferred during its recess to a Committee of Safety, 
thereby establishing a kind of dual government of 
alternate Court and Committee, to which the people 
had become accustomed under Provincial Congress 
rule. 

This temporary Constitution, as it is generally 
called, remained in force much longer than was 
anticipated. Under it the people of New Hampshire 
lived in peace with one another and contributed their 
full share to the cause of American liberty through 
the entire period of the Revolution, and until our 
present Constitution went into effect on the first 
Wednesday of June, 1784. 

While New Hampshire ranks with the smaller 
states of the Republic, for two unique acts of large 
importance it is justly entitled to high credit : 

I. 

» N. H. State Papers, vol. S, pp. 2-4. 



The Fifth Provincial Congress. 



45 



1. It was the first American Colony to establish an 
independent, constitutional State Government, which 
it did on the 5th day of January, 1776. 

2. It was the ninth state to ratify the Federal Con- 
stitution, on the 2ist day of June, 1788, and by that 
act established American Nationality. 

If one not conversant with the character of our 
forefathers should ask. Why did they not lapse into 
anarchy when Governor Wentworth, abandoning his 
government, retired to Boston on the 24th day of 
August, 1775? the answer is near at hand. Our 
forefathers had a sacred regard for law as well as 
for liberty, both of which they sought and ere long 
secured by this Constitution, which transformed New 
Hampshire from a dependent British Province to an 
independent American State. Indeed, to one who 
studies appreciatively the spirit of this period is liable 
to occur the sage remark of Hamlet to Horatio : 

" There is. a divinity that shapes our ends. 
Rough hew them how we will." 




Appendix. 



BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

The following brief sketches of the individuals 
mentioned in the text of the foregoing address afford 
some idea of the character of the patriots who as- 
sumed provincial rule during the transition of New 
Hampshire from a dependent British province to an 
independent American state. They and their asso- 
ciates in its five Provincial Congresses represented 
a people in marked contrast with the "Tiers Etats " 
of France in the Revolution of 1789, and, perhaps, 
even greater with the stolid masses just now (1905) 
asking representative government in Russia. 

HON. SAMUEL ASHLEY. 

Hon. Samuel Ashley, a member of the Fourth 
Provincial Congress, was born in Deerfield, Mass., 
March 20, 1720, whence he removed to Winchester. 
He was a colonel as early as 1776, and active in rais- 
ing troops for the patriot cause. From May 24, 1775, 
to January 20, 1776, he was a member of the Com- 
mittee of Safety, and in 1777 fought in the battle of 
Bennington under General Stark. He was also a 
member of the Council, 1776-1780, and first justice 

of 



Hon. yostah Bartlett. 47 

of the Court of Common Pleas for Cheshire County, 
1776-1778. He removed to Claremont in 1782, and 
died there, February 18, 1792. 

HON. JOSIAH BARTLETT. 

Hon. Josiah Bartlett was born at Amesbury, 
Mass., November, 1729. Having studied medicine, 
he removed to Kingston in 1750, and there com- 
menced a successful practice which he pursued for 
some fifteen years. When the disagreements between 
England and her American colonies became critical, 
he joined the patriot party and became an active sup- 
porter of its measures, incurring thereby the marked 
displeasure of the royal governor. 

In 1765, and almost or quite continually thereafter 
for the next ten years, he was a member of the Pro- 
vincial Assembly, and, in 1774-1775, of the First, 
Third and Fourth Provincial Congresses. In the 
year last named he was sent a delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress, and in July, 1776, was the first 
member to vote for the Declaration of Independence, 
and the first, after John Hancock, the president, to 
sign it. In 1779 ^^ ^^^ appointed a justice of the 
Court of Common Pleas, from which position he was 
promoted in 1782 to the bench of the Superior Court, 
of which he became chief justice in 1788. In 1787 
he was sent a delegate to the convention convened in 
Philadelphia to prepare a national constitution for 
submission to the citizens of the confederated states, 
and the year following, to the New Hampshire Fed- 
eral 



48 Col. Timothy Bedell. 

eral Convention, called to vote upon its ratification. 
In 1790, 1791, 1792 he was chosen president of New 
Hampshire, and its first constitutional governor in 

1793- 

He ever retained an interest in his profession, and 

when, in 1791, the New Hampshire Medical Society 

was incorporated, he was chosen its first president. 

He died on the 19th of May, 1795, in the sixty-fifth 

year of his age. 

COL. TIMOTHY BEDELL. 

Col. Timothy Bedell, an original proprietor of 
Haverhill and Bath, settled in Haverhill not far from 
1764. He served as a scout and as a ranger in the 
last French and Indian War. Upon the breaking 
out of the Revolution, he was made a colonel of 
militia, and thence on for several years he rendered 
important military service in Canada and on our 
Western border. He was active in raising troops, 
and was present under General Gates at the surren- 
der of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. His reputa- 
tion as an officer suff'ered for a time, on account of 
the surrender, in his absence, of his command at the 
Cedars, but fuller investigation exonerated him, and 
on the 14th of November, 1777, he was appointed 
colonel of a regiment of volunteers by the Continen- 
tal government. In 1784 he represented the towns 
of Haverhill, Piermont, Warren and Coventry in the 
House of Representatives. He died in Haverhill in 
1777. 



Hon. Wyseman Claggett. 49 

HON. JONATHAN BLANCHARD. 

Hon. Jonathan Blanchard, of Merrimack, was 
born September 18, 1738. He was a land surveyor 
and for a time agent of the Masonian Proprietors. 
In 1761, in connection with Dr. Samuel Langdon, 
he published a map of New Hampshire. He was a 
member of the Fifth Provincial Congress, and in 
1776-1778, of the Council. He was chosen a dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress in 1784, and on the 
25th of December, of that year, was appointed judge 
of probate for the County of Hillsborough, having 
previously served as register. In 1785 he was 
appointed a brigadier-general of the State Militia. 
He died July 16, 1788. 

HON. WYSEMAN CLAGGETT. 

Hon. Wyseman Claggett was born in England, 
August, 1721, and educated as a lawyer. He 
migrated to Antigua, whence, after a residence of 
some ten years, he removed to Portsmouth, in 1758. 
Here he practiced law and in 1765 was appointed 
attorney-general of the Province. He joined the 
popular party at the beginning of the Revolution, 
and was active in the support of its measures. In 
1772, he bought a farm in Litchfield, to which he 
removed, and was sent from that town as a delegate 
to the Third and Fifth Provincial Congresses in 1775. 
The next year, he was made a member of the Com- 
mittee of Safety. He was a man of ability, and 

possessed 



50 Hon. Samuel Czitts. 

possessed personal eccentricities as peculiar as was 
his name. An appreciative sketch of his life may be 
found in Bell's " N. H. Bench and Bar," pp. 264- 
267. 

HON. SAMUEL CUTTS. 

Hon. Samuel Cutts was a descendant of the 
Hon. John Cutt, the first Provincial governor of New 
Hampshire. He was born December 8, 1726, and 
bred to business in the counting-room of Nathaniel 
Sparhawk, of Kittery, Me. He became a prominent 
merchant in Portsmouth, and upon the advent of the 
Revolution he joined the patriot party and gave ear- 
nest support to its measures. He was a representa- 
tive of his town in the Provincial Assembly of 1774 
and 1775, and was twice made a member of the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence. He was also a delegate 
to the Fourth and Fifth Provincial Congresses, and 
by the former was appointed a member of the Com- 
mittee of Safety. On the 17th of January, 1776, he 
was made first justice of the Court of Common Pleas 
for Rockingham County. He served on many 
important committees in the two last Congresses and 
of the first House of Representatives. By the latter 
he, with Timothy Walker and John Dudley, was 
appointed to join a committee of the Hon*'^* Board 
"to make a Draft of a Declaration of this General 
Assembly for Independence of the United Col- 
onies on Great Britain." He died May 29, 1801. 



Col, yohn Fenton, 51 

NOAH EMERY, ESQ^ 

Noah Emery, Esq^, was born in Kittery, Me., 
December 22, 1725. He practiced law in Exeter, 
and espoused the popular cause at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution. July 4, 1775, he was made 
deputy secretary of the Fourth Provincial Congress, 
and was a member and assistant secretary of the 
Fifth. He was also clerk of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, 1776 and 1777, and in the former year, 
was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, 
which office he held until his death in 1787. 

COL. JOHN FENTON. 

Col. John Fenton was a Tory who had been a 
captain in the British Army. Upon coming to New 
Hampshire, he lived for a time at Plymouth and at 
Portsmouth. By the Provincial government he was 
made a colonel of militia and appointed to important 
offices in Grafton County. In 1775, the citizens of 
Plymouth, in obedience to a writ issued by the gov- 
ernor without the concurrence of the Provincial 
House of Representatives, elected him as their repre- 
sentative in that body. Upon being refused admis- 
sion, he became enraged and so conducted himself 
that on the 29th of June, 1775, the Fourth Provincial 
Congress voted "that Col° John Fenton is not a 
friend to this country," and "that a Committee be 
chosen & appointed to take out of the custody of Col" 
John Fenton, the Files & Records of the Court of 

Common 



52 Gen. Nathaniel Folsom. 

Common Pleas, General Sessions of the Peace, & 
Courts of Probate for the County of Grafton." Two 
days later, this Congress ordered that he be sent to 
the headquarters of the New Hampshire forces. On 
the 19th of September, 1775, the Continental Con- 
gress instructed General Washington to discharge 
him "from custody, on his giving his parole of 
honour to proceed to New York and thence to Great 
Britain or Ireland, and not to take up arms against 
the good people of this continent." He died in 
Dublin in January or February, 1785. 

GEN. NATHANIEL FOLSOM. 

"Nathaniel Folsom, the son of Jonathan and 
Anna (Ladd) Folsom, was born in 1726. At the 
age of 29, he commanded a company of the New 
Hampshire regiment in the expedition against Crown 
Point, and distinguished himself as has been related 
on a previous page. He was appointed by the royal 
governor a colonel of militia, but took the popular 
side when the division came between the colonies 
and the mother country. He was a member of the 
Continental Congress in 1774, and was elected to the 
same body three times afterwards. He took part in 
the movement to strip Fort William and Mary of its 
armament in 1774, ^^^ i^^ ^775 ^"^^ honored with the 
responsible appointment of major-general of all the 
New Hampshire Militia, and retained it through the 
war. 

*' General Folsom was also a member of the Com- 
mittee 



Benjamin Giles ^ Esq. 53 

mittee of Safety, a councillor, and a judge of the 
Inferior Court. 

"This able man and true patriot died May 26, 
1790." — BeWs History of Exeter^ p. 391. 

DR. JOHN GIDDINGE. 

Dr. John Giddinge, a member of the Third and 
Fifth Provincial Congresses, was born at Exeter, 
nth of September, 1728. He was a physician, and 
was also engaged in trade. He was a representative 
of that town in the Provincial Assembly from 1765 
to 1766. In December, 1774, he headed a company 
who held themselves in readiness, if needed, to join 
the force which captured the military stores in Fort 
WilHam and Mary. In 1773 and 1774, ^^e Assembly 
made him a member of the Committee of Corre- 
spondence. He was treasurer of the First and 
Third Provincial Congresses, and by the Fifth was 
appointed a member of the committee to report a 
draft of a plan of constitutional government. He 
died about 1785. 

BENJAMIN GILES, ESQ^ 

Benjamin Giles, Esq^, was an early settler of 
Newport, and represented Lempster, Savil, Croydon 
and Newport in the Fifth Provincial Congress, and 
thereby became a member of the first House of Rep- 
resentatives. On the 27th of December, 1775, he 
was made one of the important committee appointed 
to devise a plan of independent government for New 

Hampshire. 



54 Hon. Nicholas Gilman. 

Hampshire. He was also a member of the Constitu- 
tional Conventions of 1778 and 1781. For a time, 
he apparently took an active part in the efforts made 
to allay the secession disturbances in the western 
part of the state, and on the 30th of December, 1776, 
was made a member of the joint committee of the 
Council and House, "to take under consideration 
the difficulties & Grieveances Subsisting & com- 
plain'd of by sundry Towns & People in the County 
of Grafton & any other Towns, respecting their 
present Form of Government, and also concerning 
ascertaining the Election of Councillor for said 
County of Grafton." In 1781, he was a member of 
the Charlestown Convention and protested against 
its action, but later seems to have been in full sym- 
pathy with the secession party. 

HON. NICHOLAS GILMAN. 

Hon. Nicholas Gilman, the son of Daniel Gil- 
man, was born at Exeter, N. H., October 31, 1731. 
In early life, he was engaged in ship-building, navi- 
gation and commerce. He was a man of a mild 
temper, amiable, courteous and benevolent. 

He was an early, constant and zealous supporter 
of the American Revolution. In 1775, he was 
appointed treasurer of New Hampshire, which office 
he held as long as he lived, and for a number of 
years, was loan officer for the State. He was a 
member of the Council and of the Committee of 
Safety for the state for several years. The duties of 

all 



Col. Samuel Hobart. 55 

all these offices he performed with strict integrity- 
He died at his home in Exeter, on the 7th of April, 
1783, in the fifty-second year of his age. — Phuner 
Panel's, vol. 3, pp. 145-146. 

COL. JOHN HALE. 

Col. John Hale was a physician. He was born 
in Sutton, Mass., October 24, 173 1, and settled in 
Hollis about 1755. He served as a surgeon in the 
last French and Indian War, and also, from 1777 to 
1780, in the War of the Revolution. He was a mem- 
ber of the Provincial Assembly from 1762 to 1765, 
and in 1775, his town sent him as their deputy to 
the Fourth Provincial Congress. He was made a 
colonel of the Fifth Regiment under the royal gov- 
ernment in 1767 ; and in 1776, he received a like 
appointment under that of the state. He was mem- 
ber of the Council in 1781, and a brigadier-general 
in 1784-1785. He died October 22, 1791. 

COL. SAMUEL HOBART. 

Col. Samuel Hobart, born in Groton, Mass., 
August II, 1734, moved to Hollis in early life. In 
the last French and Indian War, he was, for a time, 
adjutant of Colonel GofTe's Regiment. He repre- 
sented his town in the Provincial Assembly from 
1768 to 1774, and was a member of the Third and 
Fourth Provincial Congresses. In 1775, he was 
appointed colonel of the Second Regiment of Minute 

Men 



$6 Col. Caleb Hodgdon. 

Men and served as a muster master and as a pay- 
master of New Hampshire troops at Cambridge. 
Previous to this, in 177 1, when the state was divided 
into counties, he had served as register of deeds, 
treasurer and a justice of the Court of Common Pleas 
of Hillsborough County. In 1776, he removed to 
Exeter and entered upon the manufacture of gun- 
powder. In 1777 and 1778, he was sent as a repre- 
sentative of that town to the legislature, and from 
April 7, 1779, to May 20, 1780, he was a member 
of the Committee of Safety. He died at Exeter, 
June 4, 1798. 

COL. CALEB HODGDON. 

Col. Caleb Hodgdon, of Dover, was a member 
of the Provincial Assemblies convened April 7, 1774, 
and May 4, 1775. In the latter, he was one of the 
committee who reported against the admission of 
members to the Assembly elected by towns not 
before represented, in compliance with precepts of 
the governor, issued without its consent. He held 
responsible officers during and for some years after 
the Revolution. He was a selectman of Dover in 
1775" On the 20th of September, 1776, he was 
appointed major of a Continental Battalion, and in 
1785, second lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Thomp- 
son's Regiment of Artillery. He was also a member 
of the House of Representatives in 1777, 177S and 
1782, and was made a special justice of the Superior 
Court in 1782, 1785 and 1786. 



Hon. yo/m Langdon. 57 

HON. JOHN HURD. 

Hon. John Hurd was born in Boston on the 9th 
of December, 1727. He graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1747, studied law and settled at Haverhill, 
where he practiced his profession and was a man of 
much influence in that vicinity. He was appointed 
chief justice of the Inferior Court of Grafton County 
in 1773, and two 3^ears later represented the towns of 
Haverhill, Bath, Lyman, Gunthwaite and Morris- 
town in the Fifth Provincial Congress. Later still, 
under the state government, he was made first justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas and recorder of deeds 
of his county. About 1777, he returned to Boston, 
and died there July 19, 1909. 

HON. JOHN LANGDON. 

Hon. John Langdon, born at Portsmouth on the 
25th of June, 1741, was a merchant. He embraced 
the patriot cause at the beginning of the Revolution, 
and throughout the war, down to within a few years 
of his death, he was honored with many of the high- 
est offices in the gift of his fellow-citizens. He par- 
ticipated in the removal of the military stores from 
Fort William and Mary in December, 1774, and in 
1777, made large off'ers of his property to the state 
in aid of the effort to oppose the progress of the 
British Army under General Burgoyne. He was 
speaker of the House of Representatives from 1776 
to 1782 : a delegate to the Continental Congress in 

1775 



58 Col. Clement March. 

1775 and 1783 ; a member of the Federal Convention 
in 1788 ; a delegate to the convention convened in 
1787 to frame a constitution for the United States; 
president of New Hampshire in 1785 and 1788 ; 
governor every 3'^ear from 1805 to 181 2, except 1809, 
and United States senator from 1789 to 1801. He 
died September 18, 1819. 

HON. WOODBURY LANGDON. 

Hon. Woodbury Langdon, only brother of Hon. 
John Langdon, was born in Portsmouth and brought 
up a merchant. Soon after the beginning of the 
Revolutionary War, he joined the popular party and 
supported its measures. He was a member of the 
Assembly in 1774-1775. He was also a justice of 
the Superior Court in 1782-1783, and again in 1785- 
1790. In 1790 he was one of a commission of five 
to settle the Revolutionary accounts of the United 
States with the several states. Governor Plumer 
says that "he had great quickness of aprehension 
and soundness of judgement." He died January 13, 
1805, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 

COL. CLEMENT MARCH. 

Col. Clement March, of Greenland, was born 
in 1707. He was a man of much energy, and a 
member of the Provincial Assembly from 1745 to 
1775, a period of 30 years. He was also a member 
of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Provincial Congresses, 
and of the House of Representatives in 1776. He 

was 



Col. Israel Morey. 59 

was appointed a colonel of Horse Guards in 1767. 
He was an extensive landholder, particularly so after 
acquiring an interest in the Masonian Propriety, and 
was an agent, with others, of the Proprietors of Bow, 
in their long but unsuccessful attempt to evict the 
Proprietors of Penacook from their township. 

COL. HERCULES MOONEY. 

Col. Hercules Mooney, of Lee, was a captain 
in Colonel Meserve's Regiment in 1667, and was 
appointed, September 20, 1776, lieutenant-colonel 
of the Continental Battalion then being raised. He 
was a member of the Fifth Provincial Congress and 
of the first House of Representatives under the Con- 
stitution. He was also a member of the Committee 
of Safety from May 28, 1778, to August 26, 1778, 
and from January 5, 1779, ^° April 7, 1779. 

COL. ISRAEL MOREY. 

Col. Israel Morey was born in Hebron, Conn., 
May 27, 1735, and came up the Connecticut valley 
as one of the first settlers of Orford in October, 1765. 
He became an important citizen as the country devel- 
oped, and held important public offices. He was a 
delegate to the Fourth Provincial Congress, and in 
the Fifth represented Lyme, Orford, Warren, Dor- 
chester, Wentworth and Piermont. From May 24, 
1775, to January 20, 1776, he was a member of the 
Committee of Safety. On the 24th of August, 1775, 
he was appointed a colonel, and in 1777 was present 

with 



6o Mrs. Hannah Osgood. 

with his command at the surrender of General Bur- 
goyne. He owned mills and timber lands, and 
removed for a time to Fairlee, Vt., but subsequently- 
returned to Orford, where he died, August lo, 1809. 

CAPT. JOSIAH MOULTON. 

Capt. Josiah Moulton, of Hampton, was a 
member of the Provincial Assembly in 1775, and 
in the same year a delegate to the Fourth Provincial 
Congress. In this last body he was a member of the 
Committee of Supplies. He was also a member of 
the Fifth Provincial Congress, and of the House of 
Representatives in 1776. He served on the Commit- 
tee of Safety from May 24, 1775, to January 31, 
1781. On the 17th of January, 1776, he was made 
a justice of the Inferior Court of the County of Rock- 
ingham. 

MRS. HANNAH OSGOOD. 

Mrs. Hannah Osgood, better known as " Mother 
Osgood," was the widow of James Osgood, who kept 
a tavern in Concord as early as 1746. This was 
surrounded by a garrison in King George's War, 
and to it, in the first instance, were taken, in a cart, 
the bodies of the five men massacred by the Indians 
on the nth of August of that year. Her husband 
died in 1757, and she continued the business which 
he had established for many subsequent years. She 
was remarkably adapted to the requirements of the 
rough times in which she lived, and central New 

Hampshire 



Hon. 'John Pickering. 6i 

Hampshire had no more ardent patriot during the 
Revolution than "Mother Osgood." She was a 
member of the Concord Church, and her name 
stands as the ninetieth in order of admission upon 
the church roll. Dr. Bouton says of her in his 
" History of Concord" (p. 567) : "The widow was 
highly respected in her vocation. She kept a good 
table and maintained order in her house. Hearty in 
the American cause, she rejoiced in the victory of 
our arms." She died in 1782. 

HON. JOHN PICKERING. 

Hon. John Pickering, born at Newington in 
1737, and graduated at Harvard College in 1761, 
like some other New Hampshire graduates of that 
day, first prepared himself for the ministry, but was 
diverted therefrom by the needs of the time to the 
profession of the law. 

When the troubles between the mother country 
and her American colonies became critical and inde- 
pendence was suggested, he opposed the proposi- 
tion ; but becoming convinced, ere long, that no 
peaceable settlement was possible, he joined the 
popular party and gave to its measures his active sup- 
port. On the 28th of May, 1773, he was appointed 
by the Assembly a member of the Committee of Cor- 
respondence, and in 1774 and 1775 was a delegate 
from Portsmouth to the First and Third Provincial 
Congresses. Later he was a member of the Consti- 
tutional Conventions of 1778, 1781 and 1791 ; and in 

1787, 



62 Maj. Nathaniel S. Prentice. 

1787, of the Convention convened in Philadelphia to 
frame a national constitution, whose ratification he 
advocated in the New Hampshire Federal Conven- 
tion in 178S. He was a member of the Council in 
1787 and 1789, and chief justice of the Superior 
Court from 1790 to 1795, when he was made a jus- 
tice of the United States District Court. The Ameri- 
can Academy of Arts and Sciences elected him to its 
membership, and Dartmouth College conferred upon 
him its degree of LL. D. Marked probity, united 
with distinguished ability, gave him great influence. 
He died April 11, 1805. 

MAJ. NATHANIEL S. PRENTICE. 

Maj. Nathaniel S. Prentice was born in Graf- 
ton, Mass., December 8, 1735. He became an early 
settler of Alstead ; was its town clerk, and repre- 
sented Marlow, Surrey and Alstead in the Fifth Pro- 
vincial Congress in 1775, and in the first House of 
Representatives in 1776. He was a member of the 
Committee of Safety from July 5, 1776, to January 
20, 1777. On the 17th of September, 1776, he was 
appointed major of the Second Regiment of New 
Hampshire troops raised to reinforce *' our army in 
New York." Dr. Bouton says of him ( Prov. and 
State Papers, vol. 10, p. 36): "When the dispute 
arose in relation to the New Hampshire grants, 1776- 
1780, he took sides with Vermont, * * * ^nd as 
guilty of sundry acts inimical to this State. Accord- 
ingl}^ he was arrested, tried by the committee of safety, 

and 



yacob Sheaf e, Esq. 63 

and imprisoned in Exeter gaol, 1782." He after- 
wards regained public confidence, and served as a 
justice of the Inferior Court for Cheshire County until 
he was 70 years of age. His death occurred on the 
20th of January, 1815. 

HENRY PRESCOTT, ESQ^ 

Henry Prescott, Esq^, of Newcastle, was a 
member of the Assembly which convened in April, 
1774, and of the Committee of Correspondence. The 
next year he was a delegate to the Fifth Provincial 
Congress, and in 1776 a member of the House of 
Representatives. 

HON. ICHABOD RAWLINGS. 

Hon. Ichabod Rawlings was of Somersworth and 
born July 18, 1722. He was a very efficient mem- 
ber of the last three Provincial Congresses, and after 
the battle of Bunker Hill, with Timothy Walker, was 
made a committee to settle, on behalf of the Province, 
the losses sustained by the New Hampshire soldiers 
engaged therein. He was a member of the Council 
in 1789-1790, and a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in 1776 and in 1789-1790. On the 17th 
of June, 1776, he was appointed judge of probate for 
the County of Strafford. He died January 31, 1800. 

JACOB SHEAFE, ESQc 

Jacob Sheafe, Esq^, born in Newcastle in 1715, 
was bred to trade, and for many years was a suc- 
cessful 



64 Col. Thomas Task. 

cessful merchant of Portsmouth. In 1745 he was 
made commissary of the New Hampshire forces at 
the capture of Louisburg. He represented Ports- 
mouth in the Provincial Assembly, 1 767-1 774. He 
died June 26, 1791. 

JUDGE THOMAS SPARHAWK. 

Judge Thomas Sparhawk, of Walpole, was born 
in Cambridge, Mass., on the 24th of March, 1727, 
and graduated at Harvard College in 1755. He 
removed to Walpole in 1769, and there purchased a 
large landed estate. He identified himself with the 
affairs of his adopted town, and repeatedly served as 
one of its selectmen. He also ably represented it in 
the Fourth Provincial Congress, where he was made 
a member of the important Committee of Supplies. 
On the loth of January, 1776, he was appointed 
judge of probate for Cheshire County, and in 1777 
and 1778 served as a muster master of New Hamp- 
shire forces. He early opened a store in Walpole, 
the first, probably, established in that town. He 
died October 31, 1803. 

COL. THOMAS TASH. 

Col. Thomas Tash, of Durham, was born in 
1722. He commanded a company in Colonel Blanch- 
ard's Regiment in 1775, and two years later was 
major of a battalion raised to reinforce Colonel 
Meserve's Regiment at Fort Edward. He was a 
colonel in the Revolutionary War, and after its close 

he 



Hon, Matthezv Thornton. 65 

he removed to New Durham and was quite active in 
promoting its settlement. He was a member of the 
Fifth Provincial Congress in 1775 and of the House 
of Representatives in 1776. He died about 1809. 

HON. EBENEZER THOMPSON. 

Hon. Ebenezer Thompson, of Durham, was 
born March 5, 1727. In early life, he was a practi- 
tioner of medicine, but gradually relinquished the 
business, as the revolutionary troubles became more 
and more critical, and gave his attention to public 
affairs. He was one of the company which in i774 
removed the military stores from Fort William and 
Mary; a member of the Provincial Assembly, 1768 
and 1774-1776; of the House of Representatives, 
1776; clerk of the Third and secretary of the Fourth 
and Fifth Provincial Congresses ; clerk of the Senate, 
1776; secretary of state, 1775-1786; councillor, 
1781-1787 ; member of the Committee of Safety, 
May 19, 1775, to January 31, 1781 ; clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas for Strafford County, 1783- 
1787; a justice of this court, 1787-1795, and 1796- 
1802 ; a member of the Constitutional Convention, 
1791-1792 ; and a presidential elector, 1796 and 
1800. He died August 14, 1802, in the sixty-fifth 
year of his age. 

HON. MATTHEW THORNTON. 

Hon. Matthew Thornton, one of the three 
New Hampshire signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 



66 Hon. Christopher Topfan. 

pendence, was born in Ireland about 17 14. After 
coming to this country, he estabhshed himself in the 
practice of medicine in Londonderry, and was a jus- 
tice of the peace under the royal government. Upon 
the outbreak of the Revolution, he became a zealous 
supporter of liberty and was elected a delegate to the 
Third, Fourth and Fifth Provincial Congresses, and 
made president of the two last. From 1776 to 1782, 
he served as a justice of the Superior Court, having 
been raised thereto from a like position in the Court 
of Common Pleas. The same year, New Hamp- 
shire adopted a constitution, and he was elected 
speaker of the House of Representatives. In Sep- 
tember, he was chosen a delegate to the Continental 
Congress, and a second time in December. From 
1784 to 1787, he was a state senator, and a member 
of the Council in 1780 and 1785. He became a cit- 
izen of Exeter in 1779, ^^^ ^^^^ residence here was a 
short one ; inasmuch as having the next 3'ear pur- 
chased the Luytwyche farm in Merrimack, he soon 
made it his permanent home. He died, while on a 
visit, at Newburyport, June 24, 1803. 

HON. CHRISTOPHER TOPPAN. 

Hon. Christopher Toppan was of Hampton, 
where he was born on the i8th day of January, 1735. 
Having acquired a good academical education, he 
embarked in the business of fishing, ship-building 
and trade. His townsmen sent him as a representa- 
tive to the Provincial Assembly in 1 762-1 774, where, 

in 



Rev. Timothy Walker. 67 

in 1773, he was made a member of the Committee of 
Correspondence. They also sent him as a delegate 
to the First and Second Provincial Congresses. He 
was opposed to the Revolution but avoided serious 
annoyances on account of his opinions. After the 
treaty of peace, 1783, he took an active part in pub- 
lic affairs and repeatedly served as a state repre- 
sentative, senator and councillor. He was a member 
of the Federal Convention of 1788, and of the Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1791-1792. He was a man 
of integrity and rare business ability. The American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences elected him to its 
membership, and Dartmouth College conferred upon 
him its degree of LL. D. He died February 28, 
1818, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. 

REV. TIMOTHY WALKER. 

Rev. Timothy Walker, born in Woburn, Mass., 
July 27, 1705, and graduated at Harvard College in 
1725, was settled as the first minister of Concord, 
N. H., November 18, 1730. His pastorate continued 
until his death. During the two last French and 
Indian Wars, his house was surrounded by a garri- 
son, within whose walls eight neighboring families 
and his own found protection. 

He was liberal in his theological views, and styled 
himself a " moderate Calvinist." The Rev. Dr. 
Bouton, one of his successors in office, says of his 
preaching, " He was not discriminating as to doc- 
trines ; but insisted chiefly on the practical duties of 

religion." 



68 Rev. Timothy Walker. 

religion." He was not only the spiritual but often 
the temporal guide of his people. When the Bow 
Proprietors sought to dispossess them of their town- 
ship, he championed their cause and successfully 
presented their appeals from the adverse judgments 
of the Provincial Courts to the kincr in Council. For 
that purpose, he made three visits to London ; the 
last of which detained him nearly two years. While 
there, he made valuable acquaintances ; some of 
them with persons connected with the government. 
From these he learned the settled policy of George III 
in regard to his American Colonies, and afterwards 
remarked to Dr. Charles Chauncy, of Boston, that 
*' Nothincr but the absolute submission of the colonies 
would satisfy Britain, and that in the end, we must 
have a war with Old England and a league with 
France." 

He was an ardent friend of American liberty, and 
although seventy years of age at the opening of the 
Revolution, he unhesitatingly accepted the office of 
delegate from his town to the First Provincial Con- 
gress, convened at Exeter on the 21st of July, 1774, 
and of the two following, on the 25th of January and 
the 23d of April, 1775. He lived to see the sub- 
stantial close of the war, dying on the ist day of 
September, 1782. A few days later, his people 
interred his mortal remains in the Old North Cem- 
etery, and the Town of Concord erected to his mem- 
ory a plain gravestone of slate, which still stands and 
marks the place of his repose. 



Hon. Timothy Walker. 69 

HON. TIMOTHY WALKER. 

Hon. Timothy Walker, son of Rev. Timothy 
Walker, was born in Concord on the 27th of June, 
1737; graduated at Harvard College in 1756; stud- 
ied theology and preached for a time but was never 
settled. About 1766, he relinquished the work of 
the ministry and turned his attention to private and 
public business. 

Upon the approach of the Revolution, he took an 
active interest in Colonial politics, and was sent b}'' 
his town, in 1775, as its delegate to the Fourth Pro- 
vincial Congress; and again, in December of that 
year, to the Fifth ; which, on the 5th of January, 
1776, adopted a constitution and became a State 
Legislature. In each of these bodies, he took an 
active part, and was also, for a time, a member of 
the Committee of Safety and a paymaster of the New 
Hampshire soldiers in the army near Boston. Upon 
the organization of the four regiments of Minute Men 
(1775), he was made colonel of the Third. 

He was a member of the Council from Decem- 
ber 18, 1776, to December i<), i779» ^^^ ^^ ^^^ Sen- 
ate in 1784. At four different times, in 1777, 1778, 
1782, and 1784, he was chosen a delegate to the 
Continental Congress, but never took a seat in that 
body. Having served on several occasions as a 
special justice of the Superior and Inferior Courts, 
he was appointed December 25, 1784, a justice of the 
Court of Common Pleas for Rockingham County, of 

which 



*]0 Hon. Meshcch Weare 

which he was made first justice in 1789 and chief 
justice in 1805. Of this court he remained a mem- 
ber until 1809. He was also a member of the Con- 
stitutional Conventions of 1778, 1781 and 1791. 

Upon the organization of the Republican party, 
Judge Walker was chosen its first candidate for gov- 
ernor, and received, in 1800, a little more than one 
third, and the year following, a little less of the whole 
number of votes cast. But the party did not become 
strong enough to elect its candidate until 1805. 
Judge Walker died on the 5th day of May, 1822, his 
death preceding by three days that of his lifelong 
friend. Gen. John Stark. On the 13th of that month, 
the New Hampshire Patriot published memorial 
sketches of the lives of each. 

HON. MESHECH WEARE. 

Hon. Meshech Weare was born in Hampton, 
June 16, 17 13, and graduated at Harvard College in 
1735. He prepared himself for the ministry, but was 
soon called from it to secular duties which aftbrd a 
record of official service rarely, if ever, paralleled in 
New Hampshire history. 

For most or all of the time, from 1745 to 1776, 
a period of 31 years, he was a member of the Provin- 
cial Assembly and speaker in 1752. In 1754, he 
was a Commissioner to the Albany Congress, and a 
member of the five Provincial Congresses of i774~ 
1775. He served on the Committee of Safety from 
July 6, 1775, to May 29, 1784, nearly nine years. 

For 



Hon. yohn Wentxuorth. *ji 

For nine years, 1 776-1 785, he was president of the 
state. He served as an associate justice of the Supe- 
rior Court from 1747 to 1776, and as chief-justice 
from 1776 to 1782, a period of 35 years. In 1782, 
he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences, and died on the 15th of January, 
1786, in the seventy-third year of his age. 

HON. JOHN WENTWORTH. 

" Hon. John Wentworth, son of Capt. Benjamin 
and Elizabeth (Leighton) Wentworth, was born 30 
March, 1719, in that part of Dover which became 
Somersworth and is now Rollinsford ; left fatherless 
at the age of six years, he was much indebted to his 
uncle, Col. Paul W., for his early advantages. Col. 
Paul took a deep interest in him and made him his 
chief heir, giving him, by his will, the homestead at 
his death. He was one of the Selectmen of Dover, 
1747 ; representative from Dover, 1749, ^^^ repeat- 
edly afterwards ; in 1767, he was representative from 
Somersworth: Speaker of the House 1771-1775. 
In 1773 he was made Chief Justice of the Court of 
Common Pleas in Strafford County, and in 177^ 
appointed one of the Judges of the Superior Court of 
the State in which office he served till his death." 
He was president of the First, Second and Third 
Provincial Congresses and Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence. He died at Somersworth, 
May 17, 1781. — See JV. H. Prov. Pafers^ vol. 7, 
P- 453- 



72 Col. "Joshua Wingate. 

HON. WILLIAM WHIPPLE. 

Hon. William Whipple, born in Kittery, Me., 
January 14, 1730, was, for a time, a shipmaster, 
and made foreign voyages. About 1759 he engaged 
in trade at Portsmouth, in which he continued until 
the beginning of the Revolutionary War. From that 
time on until his death, November 10, 1785, he gave 
much of his time to the public service. He was a 
member of the First, Second and Third Provincial 
Congresses; a delegate to the Continental Congress, 
i775~i778 5 a signer of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, 1776, and justice of the Superior Court, 1782- 
1785. In 1777 he commanded a brigade at Saratoga, 
and served the next year in the Rhode Island cam- 
paign, under General Sullivan. His career shows 
a versatility not uncommon in the Revolutionary 
period. Beginning as a shipmaster, he was next a 
merchant, next a statesman, then a soldier and, 
lastly, a justice of New Hampshire's highest court. 

COL. JOSHUA WINGATE. 

Col. Joshua Wingate. Some uncertainty exists 
as to his career. Judge C. E. Potter says of him 
(Adjutant General's Report, 1866, vol. 2, p. 349) ; 
"Joshua Wingate was of Stratham. He was a lieu- 
tenant in Capt. Gerrish's company, in Col. Gilman's 
regiment of reinforcements, in 1755, as named in note 
on page 150. July 4, 1776, he was appointed Col. 
of the second regiment, raising for the expedition 

against 



The Covenant of lyy^. 73 

against Canada — Col. Bedel being colonel of the 
first regiment — and in 1778 he led his regiment in 
the present campaign." 



THE COVENANT OF 1774. 

The American colonists tried for a time to secure 
from the British government a redress of their griev- 
ances through the peaceable means of mutual agree- 
ments to discontinue the consumption of English 
products. Of these, the New Hampshire Covenant 
of 1774 is a fair specimen : 

We the Subfcribers, Inhabitants of the Town of Concord hav- 
ing taken into our ferious Confideration, the precarious State of 
the LIBERTIES of NORTH-AMERICA, and more efpecially the 
prefent diftreffed Condition of our Sifter Colony of the Maffachu- 
fetts-Bay, embarraffed as it is by feveral Acts of the Britifh Par- 
liament, tending to the entire Subverfion of their natural and 
Charter Rights ; among which is the Act for blocking up the Har- 
bour of BOSTON : And being fully fenfible of our indifpenfible 
Duty to lay hold on every Means in our Power to preferve and 
recover the much injured Confstution of our Country ; and con- 
fious at the fame Time of no Alternative between the Horrors of 
Slavery, or the Carnage and Defolation of a civil War, but a Suf- 
penfion of all commercial Intercourfe with the Ifland of Great- 
Britain, DO, in the Prefence of GOD, folemnly and in good Faith, 
covenant and engage with each other. 

I. That from henceforth we will fufpend all commercial Inter- 
courfe with the faid Ifland of Great-Britain, until the Parliament 
fhall ceafe to enact Laws impofing Taxes upon the Colonies, with- 
out their Confent, or until the pretended Right of Taxing is 
dropped. And 



74 The Covenant of lyy^. 

2. That there may be lefs Temptation to others to continue 
in the faid now dangerous Commerce ; and in order to promote 
Induftry, Occonomy, Arts and Manufactures among ourfelves, 
which are of the laft Importance to the Welfare and Well-being 
of a Community; we do, in like Manner, folemnly covenant, that 
we will not buy, purchafe or confume, or fufFer any Perfon, by, 
for, or under us, to purchafe, nor will we ufe in our Families 
in any manner whatever, any Goods, Wares or Merchandife which 
fhall arrive in America from Great-Britain aforefaid, from and after 
the laft Day of August next enfuing (except only fuch Articles as 
as fhall be judged abfolutely neceffary by the Majority of the Sign- 
ers hereof) — and as much as in us lies, to prevent our being inter- 
rupted and defeated in this only peaceable Meafure entered into 
for the Recovery and Prefervation of our Rights, and the Rights 
of our Brethren in our Sifter Colonies, We agree to break off all 
Trade and Commerce, with all Perfons, who prefering their pri- 
vate Intereft to the Salvation of their now almoft perifhing 
Country, who fhall ftill continue to import Goods from Great- 
Britain, or fhall purchafe of thofe who import after the faid laft 
Day of August, until the aforefaid pretended Right of Taxing the 
Colonies fliall be given up or dropped. 

3. As a Refufal to come into any Agreement which promifes 
Deliverance of our Country from the Calamities it now feels, and 
which, like a Torrent, are rufhing upon it with increasing Violence, 
must, in our Opinion, evidence a Difpofition enimical to, or crimi- 
nally negligent of the common Safety: — It is agreed, that all fuch 
ought to be confidered, and fhall by us be efteemed, as Encour- 
agers of contumacious Importers. 

Laftly, We hereby further engage, that we will ufe every Method 
in our Power, to encourage and promote the Production of Manu- 
factures among ourfelves, that this Covenant and Engagement 
may be as little detrimental to ourfelves and Fellow Countrymen 
as poffible. 



The Association Test, iyy6. 



75 



THE ASSOCIATION TEST, 1776. 

Such covenants having proved ineffectual, another 
of a less pacific character was adopted in 177^' by 
the patriotic citizens of some eighty to ninety New 
Hampshire towns. It reminds one of the change 
from grass tufts to stones by the old man in the story 
of the rude boy in his apple tree, as given in " Web- 
ster's Spelling Book." This last covenant, known 
as the Association Test, read as follows : 

We, the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage, and promise, 
that we will to the utmost of our Power, at the Risque of our 
Lives and Fortunes, with Arms, oppose the Hostile Proceedings 
of the British Fleets and Armies, against the United American 
Colonies. 




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